SWINDON Town captain Dion Conroy has urged his teammates to compete for every last scrap when they face Port Vale on Thursday.

Town travel to Staffordshire for the return leg of their play-off semi-final, leading 2-1 on aggregate.

A brace from top goalscorer Harry McKirdy sent the Robins into a commanding lead last Sunday before James Wilson pulled a goal back for Vale seven minutes from time to set up a tense clash on Thursday night.

Throughout the game, Vale were aggressive in their approach, getting into the faces of the home players and making life as difficult as possible.

Darrell Clarke’s men are competing in their first play-off campaign since 1989, making the occasion even bigger for the Valiants.

Town captain Conroy has urged his side to brave and prepare for battle in their biggest game since 2015.

He said: “We’ve got to be better than them with the direct balls, second balls, and improve the nasty side of the game.

“We play better football than them, we're better footballers, so we’ve just got to take care of the physical side of the game and we’ll be alright.

“We don’t need to give anyone elbows, we just need to compete with them. We’re a fit side, we’re a strong side, we are very good with the ball.

“We don’t choose to lump the ball in the air, but when we needed to, we’ve obviously shown that we can.

"On Thursday, we've just got to do what we did [on Sunday] and that's compete. Hopefully we can get the clean sheet on Thursday and we'll be through to Wembley."

Whatever happens, Conroy says he is proud of how far his side have come in such a short space of time.

Town have put in some spectacular performances this season beating League Two champions Forest Green Rovers home and away as well as defeating their play-off opponents Port Vale away from home comfortably.

Conroy said: “Being captain is a huge honour and I’m very proud of the boys to put in the performances that they have.

“So hopefully we can get the clean sheet and we’ll be through to Wembley.”

The game kicks off at 7:45 pm with the game being shown live on Sky Sports. Adver Sport will also be providing in-depth coverage of the match.